Cardfight!! Vanguard: Heiwa

-Part 3

"Hngh..."

Izuru slowly opened his eyes, the first thing he saw being a grey ceiling that he had seen many times during the previous year.

"This is..."

"Just so you know, I almost pulled a whole all nighter because of the state you're in. I'd have enjoyed cuddling with you but that'd just be unneeded weight on you and I want you to recover fast." Sumireko chuckled, leaning back on her chair with her legs crossed. "I had to order ramen at three in the morning, that's something I only thought I'd do in an actual hospital, not on my little clinic."

"Sumireko... Wait, all nighter?" Izuru tried to sat up, but a sharp pain on his torso didn't allow him of doing so. "W-what the..."

"I had to bandage everything from your waist to your chest, aswell as your right ankle." Sumireko explained as she walked over to the examination table. "Your abdomen is covered in bruises, you have a black eye and it's a miracle your ankle isn't twisted or outright broken. It's safe to say you don't have any internal bleeding or broken ribs, but you did cough alot during the night, and spat some blood, but I've seen enough boxing movies to know that that's normal for someone who gets into a fight. It's currently saturday, about eight in the morning. I texted your parents through you phone and told them you were going to spend the night at Serebryakov-kun's place to study, so you don't need to worry about getting questioned whenever you get home. However, one thing about this whole situation still confuses me." She leaned on the table with her hands on her pockets and looked at Izuru. "Why did you get into another fight? It's been well over a year since the last time I had to actually treat you, so it took me by surprise to find you beaten up right in front of your friend Gushiken-chan's house. Thankfully, I knew for a fact that she and her mother weren't there at the time. Things could have gone south if they saw you."

"I'm sorry for the trouble I caused you..."

Sumireko sighed. "Apologies won't cut it. I'm worried about you, you know? You spent an entire year without fighting and one day I just find you beaten up worse than when you fought against three guys while going for a stroll, seeing you pass out right when I arrived left me scared shitless!"

"Hm..." Izuru looked away.

"I'm sorry I yelled, it's just that... I'm a doctor, you know? Seeing one of my pacients just give out like that hurts me. In fact, it probably hurts any doctor out there. No, that isn't an excuse. You're my friend, of course I'd get scared over seeing you like that. Just tell me what happened, okay?"

"Hm... There was this new student at Heiwa, a guy expelled from his old school over beating a teacher."

"Ban Katsuhito, right? My daughter has told me about him. He tried to become King by asking the student council for help, right?"

"Yeah... Back when that happened, it was me, the president, senpai and Yumi on the room. I stepped in to shut down his attempts and began considering all the actions he could take after that. I never thought he'd try to force us to help him by going after one of our members, but then a friend came running to me, saying how he forced her to tell him how to get to Yumi's house."

"And then?"

"What do you think... I took the shortest route there and waited for him, and then he actually showed up... Then I just... I just... I-i could have driven him away...! I know I could..." Izuru muttered, gritting his teeth. "If I had gotten there sooner, if I had gone after him... If I had just been better... My school bag...? Where's my school bag, dammit?!" He asked, forcing himself to sit up, getting his teeth at the excruciating pain caused by his damaged torso.

Sumireko shook her head and climbed onto the table, forcing Izuru back down by pinning his shoulders with her hands and straddling his lap. Izuru looked away to the right, his hair covering the rest of his face. Letting go of the grip she held over his shoulders, Sumeriko placed one of her hands on his chest, slightly pinning him down, and lifted the hair over Izuru's bandaged eye. Placing the tip of her fingers on the wet marks in the bandages, Sumireko sighed.

"You can't solve everything by just being Takagi and running away."

"I thought it was over. The fighting, the running away... I didn't change a thing, did I...? I'm still that same person I was during middle school... Mom, Shouto, Ryuuga, Tate, Airi, and even you... I haven't been doing anything but disappointing you all since then... Dammit!" Izuru cried, slamming his fist on the wall next to him, finally gathering the strength to look up at Sumireko. "I'm still that same useless and good for nothing dog... That damn, foolish berser-!"

Sumireko raised her hand and swung it across Izuru's face, making him quiet down.

"Shut up!" Sumireko demanded, gritting her teeth. "I'm this, I'm that, I'm still the same, have you heard yourself?! You've changed and you know it, so yelling against it isn't going to solve your problems! You've gotten into this mess yourself, so it's up to you to get out of it! Just... Just don't get yourself hurt like this again..." She muttered, looking down on his torso with a slight sob.

"Sumireko... I'm sorry..." Izuru muttered, once again attempting to sit up despite his pain. He placed his arms around her, but lacked the strength to pull her closer. "I'm sorry for making you worry about me again. I'll make things right..."

"I don't know much about Sumireko outside her being divorced and having a daughter that attends Heiwa, but she never told me her name so I never met her. She took upon herself to lead with my crap, and never asked for anything in return, or without even telling me why she was doing it. When she helped me after I lost against three guys back on my graduation day from middle school, I swore to stop fighting with my hands and instead deal with problems through other means. That's why I joined the student council in Heiwa, to not use my fists to protect the school. I've always been a burden to Sumireko, but yet she still worries about me, cries for me, and even takes care of me when I do this crap."